Police: Elmwood Place mayor, maintenance supervisor arrested after drunken fight at home

Elmwood Place Mayor Bill Wilson (left) and his husband, village maintenance supervisor Bill Smith, were arrested after a drunken fight at home Saturday night, according to St. Bernard Police.(Photo: Provided/Hamilton County Jail)

Elmwood Place's mayor and his husband, who is the village's maintenance supervisor, made court appearances Monday following their arrests after what police describe as a drunken fight.

Court documents said Mayor Bill Wilson, 48, and his husband Bill Smith, 60, engaged in a "mutual combat fight" after an argument that started regarding leaving Cincinnati Pride on Saturday.

Wilson was given a $10,000 bond, which he paid out on Monday. Smith is due back in court on July 2. Temporary restraining orders have been filed against both men for the domestic violence charges.

Both men have been charged with domestic violence and disorderly conduct charges. Wilson also faces two counts each of obstructing official business and resisting arrest. Police said Wilson ran from police twice. Once, Wilson tried to walk away in handcuffs after being examined by medical personnel.

Officers responded to the couple's Maple Street house around 8 p.m. after Wilson called police, court documents said. According to an affidavit, Wilson called police and it was clear that "something was very wrong."

Elmwood Place Police Sgt. Rob McConnell's affidavit said that when police arrived, Wilson was on the sidewalk with clear injuries to his face. Wilson pointed to Smith and said "arrest him," documents said. Police said Smith had a bloody face, bloody elbow and glass all over his back.

The two then began to argue and Smith was placed in the back of a police cruiser for creating a disturbance, documents said.

Police said Wilson screamed and yelled at his neighbors and tried to enter his house, but police told him it was an active crime scene. He then tried to flee the scene and actively resisted arrest, police said.

"While in the back of (the) cruiser, Mr. Wilson continually screamed and yelled and acted in a completely belligerent manner causing a significant disturbance in the neighborhood," police said.

Participants crowded the streets and leaned out of windows at the Cincinnati Pride Festival parade through downtown ending at Sawyer Point on Saturday, June 23, 2018, in Cincinnati. David Gifreda/The Enquirer

According to documents, the fight began because Wilson did not want to leave Cincinnati Pride.

A female witness told police she was drinking with the couple Downtown and Smith wanted to go home, which caused the "initial tension," documents said.

While in the car, the two argued "over who was the drunkest and who should be driving," the affidavit said. Smith struck Wilson in the face when the car was stopped as they were pulling off the Interstate.

The witness told police that she went back to the couple's home after initially getting out of the car and trying to walk home. After leaving the couple's home, she could hear "screaming and a loud fight coming from the residence."

Documents said there was evidence of a struggle in the house and "damage all over the residence with glass everywhere."

Police said both men were intoxicated with injuries to their eyes and scratches from broken glass they were rolling around in.

"There was evidence in the house of a struggle," the affidavit states. "Mr. Smith had glass on his back that appeared to be the result of being smacked in the back with a picture frame. Mr. Wilson and Mr. Smith both had obvious signs of physical injury."

Elmwood Police Sgt. McConnell requested assistance from St. Bernard Police Department because both Smith and Wilson worked in Elmwood Place administration, according to the news release.